Sackville, Thomas

Thomas (1536-1608), an English statesman and poet, and the author of the first regular English tragedy. He was a native of Sussex. He studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. Gorborduc, or Ferrex and Porrex, was the name of his first tragedy. The plot is laid in the legendary days of Britain. King Gorborduc divides his kingdom between Ferrex and Porrex, his two sons. The sons quarrel and Porrex kills Ferrex. The mother slays Porrex in revenge. The people rise in indignation and put the mother and father to death. Then the nobility collect an army to put down the rebels and all fall to destroying one another. It was written in blank verse, but is unimaginative and the dialogue is stilted and unnatural.